Frothlip & Friends

I have very nearly cleared the backlog of draw goblins (minis that have been prepped to paint, but live in a draw so that they can't guilt trip me). From left to right we have Dwarf Maimer (Chronicle N12 Hobgoblins, 1985), Sileth Frothlip and Kudra Stunty Smasher (BC4 Mighty Ugezod's Death Commandos, 1985), all sculpted by Nick Lund, Standard Bearer (DL2 Aly Morrison's Hobgoblin Warriors, 1984) and Hobgoblin Champion 1 (Oakbound Studio, 2023), sculpted by Paul Hicks. 

In case folks were wondering where they might find reasonably priced Oldhammer-style hobs, I thought it might be useful to have a comparison shot with the Oakbound chap and some classic C36 slotta hobs. I think he scales rather well.

The backlog of hobs left to paint is still ridiculous. I've really let myself drift with this one, with a couple of year-long breaks where I got distracted by other shiny things, and with no clear end goal. I think it's time to go full Stillman on this lot. Ideally, I'd like to complete a playable hobgoblin force before the end of 2025. As with the latest lot, the target is acceptable tabletop standard and to grind through them in small batches. Well, that's the plan. Gods know, I hate batch painting :( 

Hob Plains Drifters

 As mentioned in a previous post, for supposed steppe nomads the 1980s Citadel hobgoblins were sorely lacking in cavalry. The main reason, of course, is that the range wasn’t a priority for the Studio. Beyond the redesigned slotta range in ’85, the hobgoblins got a wee rocket launcher in ’87 and a temple dog rider in ’89, and that was that. Presumably if hobgoblins had been selling like hotcakes then wolf or hobhound cavalry would have been a thing, but I guess they were just too niche.

In the ‘throw all your toys down and let’s have at it’ world of early Warhammer there was always a work around. The Second Citadel Journal (Autumn 1985) contained The Dolgan Raiders scenario, in which human steppe nomads and their centaur chum attack a hobgoblin caravan. The hobgoblins hire the questionable services of some goblin wolf riders, led by one Gutrot, to act as scouts. Obviously, goblin wolf rider miniatures were readily available, so this neatly side stepped the problem of no hobgoblin cav while introducing a fun subplot. In the scenario Gutrot hates the hobgoblin commander Bagnol, so if the scenario is played as 2v2 then the Gutrot/wolf riders player gets extra victory points if Bagnol is killed!

Another workaround for hobgoblin cav I have seen employed by Oldhammerers has been to use the Chronicle N15 or Grenadier orc wolf riders as proxies. I think this works well enough alongside the N12 or Grenadier hobgoblins, as Nick Lund’s orcs and hobgoblins are all pretty hefty units, but I think it works less well alongside Aly Morrison’s slighter C36 hobs. I've also seen people use the 4th ed. Big Hat hobgoblin cav, but they're ghastly.

Chronicle and Grenadier wolf riders I originally bought to use as proxies

I was really pleased, then, when I saw Oakbound Studio were releasing a couple of packs of hobgoblin wolf riders. The wolf riders come in packs of 3, armed with either bows or polearms. I’ve been after some shoot-and-scoot wolf riders for a while so I picked up the bows pack. Here’s 2/3 of the pack coloured in.

As these are Oakbound gobbos, the sculpts are very characterful but also a touch more whimsical than 'spikey death bits'. Scale-wise, though, they are spot on. I think these will work great for a unit of skirmishers, but my quest for C36-compatable mass cav continues.